Twelve Shining Stars

This week I’ve been doing something especially near and dear to my heart. Ever since I started working in developing countries, women’s issues have caught my interest. The way women are treated in some countries is appalling, and India is a pretty bad offender on this particular issue. The literacy rate for men in this area is around 76%, while girls have a literacy rate of only 52%. As has recently made the news lately, there is a huge problem in India, China, and other countries with “missing girls”—girls who are aborted before they are born or not given the food and health care they need in early childhood, causing them to die. In these populations there are significantly more males than females, and this can lead to many societal problems. Obviously women and girls are not valued as much in societies such as these, and often they are practically sold to a husband at a young age or are treated as a household servant. This has led me to a desire to work with women in India, to build self-confidence, teach them to stand up for themselves, and to further their education as a whole. Here in Vikrivandi I’ve found the perfect opportunity to do this.


At St. Mary’s, a local catholic school where James and I are teaching, we met a great group of girls. All of the kids are wonderful of course, but we found the 9th grade girls to be particularly eager to learn both about English and about life beyond rural India. An idea that has been bouncing around in my head for a while seemed like a perfect fit for these young fifteen year olds who will have to overcome so much in life—a “women’s club” just for them, for them to inspire and teach each other and also to have a strong group to turn to in times of adversity. Women in India who want to have a career of their own or a life of their own in any way are shunned and outcast from society, and girls have to struggle to defend their right to stay in school and have an education. The girls in this class have already made it to 9th grade and have high hopes for their futures.

After discussing the idea with the headmistress at the school, I convened the girls for a few hours after school last week. They were all very excited to be getting special attention, and all twelve of them stayed after school to participate in the group. They named themselves “The 12 Star Club” because there are twelve of them and they are beautiful like stars. Along with snacks and games, we talked about the challenges for women in India, what being a girl here is like for them, and what they envision for their future. Four of the girls were Christian, one is a Muslim, and the other seven are Hindu, so we had a wide range of religious backgrounds, making it even more interesting.

I was surprised to hear that despite all I know about the challenges women face in this country that the girls all had a pretty optimistic view about their country and their future in it. All of them aspire to attend college, and all besides one feel that if they earn high enough grades they will be able to achieve this goal. The one who is not going to continue to college was a Muslim girl named Nabe, who’s family tells her she will continue to 10th grade and then drop out to get a job and get married (at age 17). This seems to be the tradition for Muslims in the community, but otherwise the girls had no thoughts of marriage quite yet.
The group acknowledged that at times they are treated as the household servants, having to do all of the cooking, cleaning, etc for the family. They also are not allowed to do a lot of things boys can do: stay out late, go places unaccompanied, or drink alcohol (even when they’re adults). Their biggest gripe seemed to be that they want to wear pants like westerners but their parents would never allow them to do that. The common practice in India of requiring dowries from girls’ parents in marriage is also a big issue for them. The 12 Stars Club believes that this practice is wrong because it causes a lot of problems among the girl and her new husband and his family. The girl goes to live with the man and his family and if they felt that her dowry was not sufficient often she is beaten or not treated well in her new home. The girls in the group felt very strongly that the practice of having dowries is wrong and outdated, and they all say that they would not marry someone who demands a dowry. I also found out that having “love marriages” is slowly becoming more accepted here. About half or more of marriages, however, are still arranged by the families involved. Overall, the girls think that they have a better quality of life than their mothers before them, and have better opportunities in life. I left the group meeting feeling pretty optimistic about how women are becoming more valued members of society.

We also watched some movies, had snacks, and played a few fun games. The club has to take a break for now because they have final exams, but after their exams are finished we plan to continue the group, and even after I leave here hopefully they will continue having meetings of the 12 Stars Club. These girls are amazingly talented, intelligent, and outgoing and the hope is that the group will only strengthen them and give them more confidence. Although I don’t know all of the challenges they will face, or how their lives will ultimately play out, I do know one thing—I wouldn’t bet against these girls.


Princey, Nancy, Dhevi, Elai, Rany, Sangee, Sowme, Nabe, Hari, Mercy, Selvi, and Jaya